This study surveyed 183 college and senior high school students' graph-interpretation competence in scientific and daily contexts. Specifically, whether students' graph interpretation in scientific and daily contexts differed across educational levels was investigated. Furthermore, the questions of whether students' graph interpretation competence…

Linear functions are an essential part of school and university education. Nevertheless, this topic is challenging for many students--especially in STEM topics. In this article, we contribute to the understanding of learning difficulties in the context of mathematical and physical problems. Here, we present the results of an eye-tracking study on…

The ability to correctly interpret data is an important skill in modern knowledge societies. The present study investigates adults' ability to interpret covariation data presented in bar graphs. Drawing on previous findings that show that the problem context influences the interpretation of contingency tables (grounded and concrete problems are…

With the growing emphasis on the development of scientific inquiry skills, the display and interpretation of data are becoming increasingly important. Graph interpretation competence is, in fact, essential to understanding today's world and to be scientifically literate. However, graph interpretation is a complex and challenging activity. Graph…

Education and earnings interact in complex and often unexpected ways--but there are rules to the game. "The College Payoff," a new paper from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, uses in-depth data analysis to identify, illuminate and elucidate those rules. This executive summary provides a glimpse of the education and…

Numeracy is as essential to becoming an active and thoughtful citizen as literacy. Although the concept of numeracy is complex and robust, there are four areas in which teachers can fairly easily begin to incorporate it into social studies curriculum and instruction. The areas include the students' ability to understand raw numeric data in…

Reports a study to examine the role of context on the ability to interpret graphs. Graph tests involving 2 ecological contexts were presented to 14- and 15-year-old students (n=23) in the form of an interview. Results indicated how students used their contextual knowledge in interpreting the graphs. (MDH)